Ken Newquist 
The original topper for the Geek Tree was a glowing blue orb. Although vaguely sci-fi-ish, it wasn’t a great way to top the tree. And then came Santa Yoda. Part of a series of figurines that included a Christmas-themed R2-D2 and C-3PO, Santa Yoda features the 900-year-old Jedi Master in Santa garb. he’s got a full red-and-white … Read more
The U.S.S. Defiant NX-74205 is the Borg-fighting starship introduced in Deep Space Nine’s 3rd season to take on the threat of the Dominion (and to provide the show with more stories set off the space station). Released in 1997, today’s Ornament-a-Day entry features string-powered lights but no sound. The ship’s deflector array glows blue, while it’s warp nacelles feature the familiar … Read more
In 2006, Dark Horse Comics released a Serenity ornament, the Firefly-class starship that was the namesake of the series with the same name. Unfortunately, they sold out before I could buy one. A few years later, my wife bought my a Reaver-disguised version of Serenity inspired by the vessel’s appearance in the Serenity movie, but it’s a grim ornament for a … Read more
So far Ornament-a-Day has focused on Geek Tree’s science fiction ornaments, but thanks to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter there a good number of fantasy ornaments as well. The Bilbo Baggins ornament from 2013 features the hobbit puffing on his pipe and contemplating a golden ring (obviously, the One Ring he acquired in Gollum’s cave). It’s an … Read more
In my heart of hearts, I’m an X-Men fan … but I have a lot of affection for Spider-man. That waxes and wanes based on storylines; I have a bunch of Spidey comic books from the Todd Todd McFarlane Amazing Spider-man days, but I stopped collecting during the terrible One More Day/Brand New Day retconning storyline that saw … Read more
I’ll admit, I was skeptical of the Golden Enterprise NCC-1701 when I got it. The 50th-anniversary ornament features the original Enterprise (no stinking A, no stinking B, no stinking C, no stinking D) … with a gold finish. On the one hand, it’s undeniably garish and gaudy. On the other hand … it’s a freaking golden Enterprise! … Read more
Surprisingly, there’s no Iron Man ornament on the Geek Tree. Despite being one of the lynchpins of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the closest I get to him is the Iron Patriot, the re-themed War Machine armor (painted red, white, and blue) from Iron Man 3. Today’s Ornament-a-Day entry features the armor in a flying action pose, and it adds a … Read more
While the Geek Tree is dominated by Federation starships, I do have a handful of vessels from other factions. The first of these is my somewhat battered Klingon Bird of Prey, today’s Ornament-a-Day entry. It’s a string-powered ornament, with its forward photon torpedo launcher flashing yellow, two glowing red under panels (I’m sure there’s a technical readout that would … Read more
The Geek Tree could easily be the “Star Trek” tree. Starships from the franchise’s television and cinematic runs dominate the tree, augmented by the occasional character-focused ornament. The first Star Trek ornament – and the one most sought by collectors like myself – is the 1991 version of the Enterprise. Released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Star … Read more
Day 8 of Ornament-a-Day 2019 is dedicated to everyone’s favorite heavily-armed trash panda and his flora colossus sidekick. My family is big fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, so when this Infinity War-inspired ornament featuring the duo picking it up for the Geek Tree was a no-brainer. It’s an unpowered ornament featuring teenager Groot, carrying a big gun, and … Read more